Ryan Giggs has suggested that Louis van Gaal, the incoming Manchester United manager, will have the final say on whether he extends his playing career.

Rio Ferdinand has already been told that he will not be offered a contract by the Dutch coach. With Ferdinand’s contract due to expire next month, the former England captain is aware that United have no plans to extend his deal beyond this summer.

Ferdinand’s departure is no surprise, with his exit widely expected, but Giggs remains open-minded about playing on after admitting it would be ‘difficult’ to retire from the game.

Van Gaal, the Holland coach, is expected to be confirmed as United manager before the Dutch face Ecuador in a friendly in Amsterdam on Saturday, with both parties keen to resolve coaching appointments before the 62-year-old is finally installed as David Moyes’s successor.

Having undertaken the role of interim manager for United’s final four games of the season, Giggs is understood to be keen to remain at Old Trafford in a senior backroom position under Van Gaal.

But the 40-year-old, who made his 963rd senior appearance for United against Hull City last week, admits he is still undecided about whether to continue as a player, with the Welshman claiming that his decision does not rest on one issue alone.

“First of all, does the new manager want me?” Giggs said. “But also, do I want to put my body through another year?

“Do I want to continue eating the right things or face the discipline another pre-season?

Do you want to go out still enjoying it and not go on a year too long? These are all things I have got to consider.

“But I think it will be difficult to stop playing and it is probably easier when you have had injury problems.

“I have seen players who just cannot go on and they are not training and just going out for games, but I have never really had those problems, so I have got to weigh up a lot of things.”

Van Gaal, who is due to speak to the media at a press conference in Hoenderloo on Tuesday, is expected to offer Giggs a role, with Dutch assistants Patrick Kluivert and Danny Blind not anticipated to be involved on his coaching staff at United.

And speaking in an interview with Fifa.com in December, Van Gaal laid out his managerial philosophy which offered a hint towards the likelihood of Giggs being a part of his backroom team.

“When I go to a new club, I always want to keep one coach from the existing staff,” Van Gaal said. “(At Bayern Munich), that person was Herman Kerland, who is still working under Pep Guardiola.

“I wanted to know who was coming through the youth system and he is the man who said to me: “Müller, Badstuber and Alaba. These are the players.”

United, meanwhile, are awaiting a response from Southampton after lodging a bid of £27 million for the club’s England left-back Luke Shaw at the weekend.